Grichuk’s injury not believed to be serious, but center fielder will miss a start or two

Center fielder Randal Grichuk is day-to-day after injuring his right groin running to first base in the fifth of the St. Louis Cardinals’ 3-2 loss to Atlanta on Sunday.

Grichuk felt pain when he grounded out to shortstop. He played one more inning before departing in the top of the seventh.

Grichuk said Monday that he was still waiting to hear about the result of an MRI exam performed earlier, although manager Mike Matheny said everything checked out fine and that Grichuk would be available in the series opener against Cincinnati.

“I’m feeling better today,” said Grichuk, who was replaced in center field by Peter Bourjos. “When I tried beating that ball out at first in my third at-bat, I kind of felt it grab a little bit. ... I felt it for the next half-inning, and that’s when I mentioned it, and they shut me down.

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“But I’m feeling better today. I’m just resting it today. I got an MRI this morning and I’m going to see the doctor when he gets here.”

Grichuk said he’s been dealing with occasional soreness in the groin.

“It’s been tight for a couple of weeks now, so I’ve been getting treatment on it,” Grichuk said. “It’s been noticeable, (but) not anything I was too worried about. It’s been manageable until running down the line. It felt a little bit worse and they want to be on the safe side. A little rest and it should be good.”

Grichuk is batting .281 with 17 doubles, six triples, 11 home runs and 36 RBIs in 81 games. He leads all major-league rookies with a .558 slugging percentage, which also tops the Cardinals.

“Everything went really well (with the tests),” Matheny said. “We’re still going to give him a day, maybe two. But the feedback I’m getting is he could be available (Monday) night if we needed him.”

The Cardinals have been severely bitten by the injury bug this season, although they’ve overcome the setbacks and began Monday with a 63-35 record.